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Wednesday, 11 June 2014

Nurul-samawati wal arz (2)

In the part (1) of this article we have seen that word
light/ ‘nur’ used in Quran means a medium through which things may be seen in
the right perspective and deeds may be done in the right manner. Allah’s ‘Nur’
is Allah’s such Quality through which Allah make people see things in the right
context and do things in the right way. The physical light/ ‘nur’, as we see it
in this universe, is not Allah’s ‘Nur’; the Allah’s ‘Nur’ is Allah’s Quality
which is not a creation but physical light/ ‘nur’ seen in this universe is
Allah’s creation like other creations. "And We have not created/ 'khalaqa' the heavens and earth and that between them except in truth" (al-hijr-85). As physical light is also included in what is between heavens and earth, it means physical light is also khalaq/creation. Allah’s Qualities cannot be seen with
human eyes though manifestations of such Qualities may be seen in this
universe; it is just like we cannot see artistic skills found in the body of an
artist but we can see manifestation of artistic skills in the form of a picture
painted by such artist.

However some scholars believe Allah/ Allah’s Qualities
may be seen with human eyes, and this belief is usually based on verses of sura
‘Najm’. Let us examine these initial verses of sura ‘al-najm’.

Before examining initial verses
of sura al-najm, we need to understand the difference between seeing with eyes
and perceiving through physical senses other than eyes. We have already seen in
the article “Time and Space-Allah’s
eternal Qualities” that Allah may be
perceived through human physical faculties other than eyes; perceiving of
Allah’s Entity through physical faculties other than eyes is called ‘royat e
Elahi’. Quran has distinguished between ‘royat’/perceiving’ and ‘seeing with
eyes’.

“And
you had certainly wished for martyrdom before you encountered it, and you have
[now] perceived it [with physical faculties] while you were looking on/ 'tanzuroun' [with
your eyes]” (al-imran-143).

In the above mentioned verse,
there is clear distinction between seeing with eyes (which is described with word 'tanzurun'), and perceiving through
physical faculties other than eyes (which is described with word 'ra aytumuhu'). The nature/state of
‘royat’/perceiving with physical faculties other than eyes may be better
understood by the following example.

Suppose we come from outside in
severe cold and enter in a warm room. On entering the room, we will have an
immediate sense of coziness. Though we cannot see with our eyes such warmth, we
are as certain about the existence of such warmth as we are seeing it with our
own eyes. But actually we are not seeing it with our own eyes rather we are
perceiving it through physical senses other than eyes. Similarly Allah’s
presence/existence may be perceived with physical senses other than eyes and
this is what is called ‘royat e Elahi’.

Now we turn to analysis of initial
verses of sura al-najm.

“By the star
when it descends (1). Your companion [Muhammad (s.a.w)] has not strayed, nor
has he erred (2). Nor does he speak from [his own] inclination (3). It is not
but a revelation revealed (4). Taught to him by one intense in strength (5).
One of soundness, And he rose to [his] true form (6). While he was in the
higher [part of the] horizon (7). Then he approached and descended (8). And was
at a distance of two bow lengths or nearer (9). He revealed to Allah's servant whatever he wanted”
(al-najm- 1-10).

A simple reading of these verses reveal that these
verses are stating about hazrat Gabriel and our Nabi (s.a.w). These verses are not relating to incident of 'meraj'. These are about
event of our Nabi’s (s.a.w) seeing hazrat Gabriel with his eyes. It is evident
especially from verses 6, 7, 8 and 9.

The sura
further proceeds as follows:

“The
mind/fuwad did not lie [about] what it perceived/ raa (11). So will you dispute
with him over what he saw/ 'yara' (12)? Indeed, he perceived/ ‘raahu’ him another time
(13). At the Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary (14). Near it is the Garden of
Refuge (15). When there covered the Lote Tree that which covered [it] (16). The
eye did not turn aside, nor did it exceed the limit (17). Indeed, he perceived/
‘raa’ one of the greatest signs of his Lord” (18) [al-najm-11-18].

These verses are relating to incident of 'meraj'. We can see no verse stated above
mentions about our Nabi (s.a.w) seeing Allah with his eyes. If our Nabi (s.a.w)
had seen Allah with his eyes, this fact would have been stated in clear words. On
the contrary, verse 11 states that our Nabi’s mind/fuwad lied not in what our Nabi
(s.a.w) perceived. In other words, what our Nabi (s.a.w) perceived was endorsed
by our Nabi’s (s.a.w) mind as well. As stated above, perceiving through
physical senses other than eyes is as much certain as something seen through
eyes. This verse is indicating the same fact.

The verse 17 states that our Nabi’s
(s.a.w) sight neither got astray nor crossed the limit. The limitation of human
sight/eye is that it cannot see Allah (al-anaam-103); this verse states our
Nabi’s (s.a.w) eyes did not cross this limit and did not see Allah though our
Nabi’s (s.a.w) eyes were focusing in the right way.

The next verse 18 states that
actually our Nabi (s.a.w) perceived one of the greatest signs of Allah. In other
words, the greatest sign of Allah (royat e Elahi) was not seen through eyes;
rather it was perceived through physical senses other than eyes.

We may conclude that Allah cannot
be seen through human eyes. The physical light/nur, as we see with our eyes in
this universe, is not part of Allah’s Existence; it is Allah’s creation. Allah’s
‘Nur’ is not a creation; it is Allah’s Quality which cannot be seen with human
eyes.

NOTE:
It is a clarification in response to some comments I received regarding this article.
As
for jalwa e Haque, we cannot see Allah with our eyes but we can feel Allah's siffat and Allah's wajood through our physical
senses other than eyes. Like we can feel someone's love and hatred, we
can feel Allah's love and Allah's other qualities/siffat. Like we can
feel presence of someone in our proximity through our senses, we can
feel Allah's 'Wajood' around us through our senses other than eyes. This
is what is called Royat e Elahi or Jalwa e Haque. plz see my article
'Nuru l samawati wal arz' for details. The light/Nur which we may see at
the time of Royat e Elahi is not Allah's Entity; light/nur is shown just
to create an impression in the observer's mind so that he may perceive
Allah's presence through his senses other than eyes. We know people have felt Allah's presence through various mediums; sometimes through
fire-as is the case of hazrat Musa (a.s); sometimes through voice-it is
the most common medium- and sometimes through light/nur. All these physical
mediums are not Allah; they are only mediums to feel Allah. These physical
mediums are adopted because human physical senses can feel only physical
things. It may be appreciated that feeling of Allah's presence (feeling of Allah's 'wajood')/ Royat e Elahi, and comprehension of
Allah's siffat (comprehension of Allah's Qualities) are two different things. Royat e Elahi/feeling of Allah's 'wajood' happens only
through some physical mediums, as mentioned above; but comprehension
(partially) of Allah's siffat may be done through human intellect as well ( Human intellect is considered as non-physical phenomenon, though it may be argued that human intellect is also a physical medium. Actually I believe that everything created by Allah is physical).

1 comment:

It is a clarification in response to some comments I received regarding this article.As for jalwa e Haque, we cannot see Allah with our eyes but we can perceive/feel Allah's siffat and Allah's wajood through our physical senses other than eyes. Like we can feel someone's love and hatred, we can feel Allah's love and Allah's other qualities/siffat. Like we can feel presence of someone in our proximity through our senses, we can feel Allah's presence around us through our senses other than eyes. This is what is called Royat e Elahi or Jalwa e Haque. plz see my article 'Nuru l samawati wal arz' for details. The light/Nur which we may see at the time of Royat e Elahi is not Allah's Entity; light/nur is seen just to create an impression in the observer's mind so that he may perceive Allah's presence through his senses other than eyes. we know people have perceived Allah's presence through various mediums; sometimes through fire-as is the case of hazrat Musa (a.s); sometimes through voice-it is the most common medium- and sometimes through light/nur. All these mediums are not Allah; they are only mediums to perceive Allah. These mediums are adopted because human physical senses can feel only physical things. It may be appreciated that Royat e Elahi and comprehension of Allah's siffat are two different things. Royat e Elahi happens only through some physical mediums, as mentioned abiove; but comprehension (partially) of Allah's siffat may be done through human intellect also.Chat conversation end